


When I Rush, I Rush for You

by Bella_Monoxide



Series: The Little Things... in the Apocalypse [3]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, Judith is two years old, M/M, Prison setting, Slow Burn, They never left
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-25
Updated: 2015-03-25
Packaged: 2018-03-19 14:03:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3612699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bella_Monoxide/pseuds/Bella_Monoxide
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daryl does not make it back from his hunt - Rick gets worried.</p>
            </blockquote>





	When I Rush, I Rush for You

**Author's Note:**

> A huge Thank You! goes out to my beta-reader again, pharmtechgirl71!

Rick sat outside in the prison grounds, watching his son's plan being carried out. Carl had suggested – that night after dinner two weeks ago, on the day Daryl disappeared for a couple of hours – that they should train. All of them.

Shooting was problematic, since it drew too much attention and ammo was always low, but they did manage to find a couple bows over time, compound as well as crossbows. Knifes were aplenty, but people lacked skill in that department.

Carl had told Rick that especially the Woodbury people, but their latest additions as well, needed training. He had voiced the opinion that everybody should at least have a basic knowledge of self defence and weapons training. In case of encounters with other groups in the future, they should be prepared for possible combat.

Rick talked to Daryl about it, and together with the other people from their core-group they came up with plans as to how to go about it most efficiently. Every person that had something to contribute taught others; it was a kind of snowball system that, even within this short amount of time, began to show success.

Rick was very proud of Carl, and he had told him so, which made him stand up just a little bit taller. But what had made Carl even prouder was the praise he got from Daryl. Carl had asked the hunter for crossbow training and had done very well so far.

Daryl sat down next to Rick, effectively ending his musings. For a while they just sat together in companionable silence. Eventually, Daryl began to talk to Rick about a run they had been planning. This time, they would try to scavenge in a town even further away than on previous runs, and they tried to plan it as well as possible.

Rick asked Daryl about his next hunt, and if he planned on taking anyone with him, since he had been teaching quite a few people lately.

"Nope," Daryl answered, "I will go on my own, you know I'm very quiet. The others might be getting better with a bow, but they sure as shit sound like bulls, trampling through the underbrush."

Rick laughed out loud. Daryl had a way of saying stuff like this with the straightest of faces, it amused him to no end.

Daryl looked over at him, asking "What did I say that's so funny? Won't catch any game to feed our group if we are so loud. And with that upcoming run..." he trailed off, looking into the distance.

"I know," Rick said, "it isn't what you say so much but how you say it."

The only answer he got was Daryl's signature gruff. But Rick was ok with that; Daryl talked much more than he used to way back then, before the prison. He still was not big on words exactly, but he did not keep his talking to an absolute minimum anymore, either.

Besides, Rick thought, Daryl's gruffs and snorts had a particularly deep sound to them – he just loved to hear those.

* * *

Daryl went out on his hunt the next day at the crack of dawn, while Rick went about his day as he did most days, lots of work in the garden and spending time with Judith.

In the afternoon he watched as Carl taught a group a lesson in gun handling and safety. After a while Rick noticed that a guy who was a couple of years older than Carl seemed to have hit it off with his son. When the lesson was over, the guy hung back, waiting for Carl, who was talking to one of the women who had participated in the training.

Rick went over and began to talk to him. "Hey Zach, I see you and Carl have become friends?"

Zach blushed for some reason, but Rick thought it might just be his own status as their leader that caused it. Sometimes he resented the reactions it brought him, and he pretended not to notice.

"Yes, Sir, your son and I have some things in common." Carl stepped over to them then, having finished his talk. "Hey Dad, is Daryl not back yet? He said he would be here by dusk." Rick looked thoughtful.

Zach chimed in, adding "Yeah, don't you think he should take another person on his hunts, just in case something happens?"

Now he had Rick worried. Carl and Rick looked at each other in silent conversation. Finally, Carl said "We should go out and search for him if he is not back soon."

"Carl, I see your point,“ Rick admitted, “but how will we find him? And it will be dark soon, too..."

* * *

When Daryl set out to hunt that day, he first walked to their snares for a quick check, but had found them empty. Damn, he thought, I hope we are not overdoing it. He was worried. Way back then when he had learned how to hunt, he had been taught not to do so in the same area too much, or huntable animals would diminish.

Maybe I should hunt on our next run, Daryl half-joked to himself, since we have to try places further and further away. And not for the first time he thought about their future. Would it make sense to move the group to a new location at some point, despite everything they had built up here?

He decided that he would talk to the other members of their core-group about that while he silently walked through the woods. So far, there where no tracks worth following, and he just moved along, further into the underbrush.

He thought back to Rick, laughing about what Daryl had said yesterday and he smiled to himself. He would never admit it, but he got a kick out of his ability to make Rick forget all of his worries for a moment and just laugh about something. It meant a lot to Daryl, being the cause of that.

Another thing that had brightened up Rick's mood lately was Carl's increasing ability with the crossbow.

Maybe I will take the boy with me next time, Daryl thought to himself.

Not only to please Rick, but for Carl to have some actual practice. It just was not the same to shoot in a safe environment. Good for training purposes, yes, but eventually one had to get out and do the real thing.

Besides, he thought, we are not just training for self defense. We need to provide for a big group, so we better step it up.

That was the moment when he found the deer tracks and followed them, intent on catching the animal, which would feed the group for a few days.

Eventually, hours later, he succeeded and made quick work of preparing his prey so it would be less heavy for him to carry back to the prison, which was quite some distance away by now.

Another good reason not to do this alone anymore, he grunted to himself as he wrestled the animal on his shoulders and started to walk back. By late afternoon he had nearly made it, but was still within the trees that surrounded the prison grounds, when it happened.

He had wanted to put the venison down to have a drink from his water bottle and rest for a moment, when he misstepped and tripped, twisting his ankle in the process. Daryl crashed to the ground hard, since the deer was so heavy on his shoulders and he could not manage to get his arms out in time to soften his fall.

Grunting from the pain, Daryl got out from under the deer and tried to assess the damage. Shit, he thought, I don't think I will be able to walk on that, looking at his already swollen ankle in desperation. He got out his water bottle and took a long swig, then poured some water over his foot in an attempt to cool it, which only worked for a moment.

Now what, he thought. I can't manage to walk back, even if I leave the deer behind. And I don't want to do that anyhow, he thought stubbornly, since I spend the whole damn day trying to catch it in the first place.

Being tired and hurt, all his frustration was overwhelming and he started to cry, but stopped again quickly because it was installed in him from a very early age on that, in the universe according to his father, Dixons do not cry.

So Daryl sat up against a tree, staring into the distance, and soon noticed the sun fading, which meant that evening was approaching fast as he could not help but think of Rick's smiling face, and wonder if he would ever see it again.

* * *

Over in the common area of the prison, Rick sat deep in thought, his brow furrowed in worry. Daryl still had not made it back. Slowly but surely, a distant noise made its way through the fog of thoughts in Rick's head and he realised that his daughter was crying. He went to see what troubled her, since it sounded like she was really upset.

When he reached her room, he saw Beth trying to calm Judith down, but she just cried harder. Beth, feeling desperate by then handed Judith over to Rick, and he cuddled her to his chest, making cooing noises. After a while, he started humming in order to calm her, and she looked up at him after a minute.

"Dada," she muttered in a teary voice, "I want Dare!" Me too, Rick thought, me too, Judy. "Dare gone, Dada?" Judith looked at him, her little face all worried.

"No, Judy, he just hasn't made it in yet, 's all. When he is back, I will tell him you asked for him, alright?" And with that, he kissed her forehead and handed her back to Beth. "Please sing to her for a while, you know she loves your voice."

When Beth nodded in agreement, Rick turned on his heel, his mind made up, and went to search for Carl. He found him in his cell, talking to Zach. Both boys looked up and immidately noticed Rick's determined expression. Carl was up before Rick had said anything, stating "We are going to look for him, right? Let me go get a bow real quick, and I'll meet you at the gate!" And off he went.

Zach looked after him, than back at Rick. "Can I come too, Sir? We could take flashlights and at least search the nearest woods?" He suggested, and Rick nodded.

"Yes, we will.“ He agreed. “I thought of asking Glenn and Maggie to come as well, so we can make a chain and search a wider area at once. Don't forget your knife, though!"

"Yes Sir, will meet you in a few!" They both went out the door and Zach headed to his cell, while Rick went to get Glenn and Maggie.

They all met at the gates and proceeded out of the prison, hurrying along in order to avoid confrontations with walkers. Several people made noises on the inside of the prison fences in order to distract as many walkers from the search party as they could, while the group made quick work of any undead coming at them.

After they reached the treeline, their focus was soley on finding Daryl, as they began to spread out in a half circle.

What felt like hours, but in reality was probably no more then thirty minutes, into their search, they still had not found any sign of Daryl, and Rick had a hard time staying focused. Some time later, they heard a commotion in the distance and rushed forward into the direction it was coming from.

The sight they were faced with was overwhelming. Daryl appeared to be quite unsteady on his feet, but was still fighting three walkers, one of which was still a yard or two away, but approaching nonetheless. Before Rick could even think of doing anything, an arrow was flying past his head and hit the walker Daryl was currently trying to fight off between the eyes.

Daryl managed to push it away, but after that his eyes rolled up in his head and he fell to the ground, unconscious. Rick rushed forward to his side, while Maggie ran to the closest walker, felling it with her knife.

The third and last walker for the moment was met with a knife handled by Zach, who walked over to Carl then, clapping a hand on his shoulder, telling him "nice shot, Carl!"

Maggie and Rick looked Daryl over, but aside from his hurt foot and a nasty looking head wound, he seemed ok. "Looks like he tripped and twisted his ankle or something, what do you think, Maggie?" Rick asked her.

"Yeah, I think you're right about that. The head wound bled like those usually do, but I think it's a minor injury. It will be hard to get him back, since he is unconscious, though..." She trailed off, thinking.

Glenn suggested "How about Rick and I carry Daryl, while Zach and Carl take the deer?"

After a quick look over the animal by the light of their flashlights, they found that the walkers had not gotten their teeth into the deer, so they could still use it. With their plan made up they hurried to carry it out, for new walkers were sure on their way already, attracted by all the noise.

* * *

They made it back to the prison and hurried inside, where Rick sent for Hershel immediately. After they had gotten Daryl to his cell, Hershel hobbled around the corner, followed by Beth who held his doctor's bag.

While Hershel tended to Daryl, Rick looked at Beth, opening his mouth to ask about Judith, but she said "don't worry, Rick, Judy is fine. Carol is watching her in Judith's room." Rick nodded and thanked Beth for taking care of his daughter.

When Daryl's foot was bandaged and his head wound cleaned and dressed, Rick sat down next to the bed and took Daryl's hand. Hershel told him to try and wake Daryl up every couple of hours to make sure he did not have a concussion, and to call him if anything should arise during the night.

Rick thanked him while Hershel went out, which left only Carl and Zach in Daryl's cell. That was the moment in which Rick had an idea, and he asked Carl to go and get his sister.

When Carl reappeard with Judith in his arms, the girl looked worried at seeing Daryl like this, but Rick said "Hey Judy, Daryl is back! Don't worry about his bandages, he is fine, but we need to wake him up. I thought you might wanna help me with that..?"

Judy clapped her little hands at that, wiggling in Carl's arms, trying to get to Daryl. Rick lifted her off Carl and put her on the bed next to Daryl. "Dare, Dare," she cried excitedly, "wake up! Eye's 'n shine!" And she smacked his cheek with her hand lightly.

Daryl cracked an eye open, blinking in the light. He moaned and squinted up at them, looking confused. "What..? How..?" He managed to get out.

Rick, holding Daryl's hand again, told him not to worry about anything and that he was safe in his bed in the prison. While Rick talked to Daryl, the latter had put his arm around Judith, cuddling her to him, and she closed her eyes, happy to have him back.

Rick looked at Daryl and his daughter with a fond expression on his face, caressing Daryl's hand with his thumb.

Zach tugged at Carl's arm, pulling him towards the door and out of Daryl's cell. "Let's give Daryl and your dad some privacy, a'ight?" He whispered to Carl, who nodded in agreement.

**Author's Note:**

> The title is taken from the chorus of Depeche Mode's song "Rush".  
> I had quite some trouble finding a title, so please let me know what you think, or even better, drop me a comment about how you liked the story!


End file.
